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Cropin develops Aksara, open-source micro language model for climate-smart farming
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Friday, 19 April, 2024, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
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Cropin Technology has, now, researched and developed Aksara, an open-source micro language model for climate-smart farming. The technology utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI). It not only predicts the onset of weather anomalies like the current heat wave, but also alerts farmers about what can be done with specific reference to the crops that they have chosen to cultivate.
The Bengaluru-based agri-tech firm, has comprehended the bane of climate change with rising temperatures and delayed rainfall which is impacting farmers' livelihood.
The company views that intelligent climate data can offer farmers valuable insights, helping them make informed decisions about crop selection, planting times, irrigation schedules, and pest management strategies.
Aksara is, now, in the process of assuring its farmers that the right kind of information, hyper-tuned to local conditions and crops, can aid farmers and policy makers make climate-smart decisions.
The existing large language model, which served as the base model for Aksara, is fed with more generic data, which are biased towards the Global North, according to Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO, Cropin Technology.
“What we have done with Aksara is that we fine-tuned contextual data on nine kinds of crops that cover paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, barley, cotton, sugarcane, soybean and millets with particular reference to countries in the Indian subcontinent,” he added.
By leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI, we can identify trends, predict weather patterns, and even anticipate long-term climate shifts, empowering stakeholders to mitigate risks and optimise resource allocation, said the company.
"The knowledge domain of the model is specific to the agricultural best practices, including climate-smart agricultural practices and regenerative agricultural practices," stated Kumar.
“AI has the potential to transform agriculture, but challenges like access to large-scale structured data, expertise, and storage/compute infrastructure limit its adoption. Open-source projects like Aksara are crucial for wider AI use and speeding up innovation,” said Praveen Pankajakshan, head, Cropin AI Labs.
Eventually, Cropin plans to build a version of Aksara, which will not only monitor, but also alert the farmers about possible interventions to mitigate the problem at hand.
“Opening up access to climate data models to a wider audience can indeed accelerate innovation and development in the field of climate science and agriculture. With more people downloading and building upon the model, there's potential for collaborative efforts to enhance its capabilities and responsiveness," stated Kumar.
In the context of Aksara, leveraging real-time information for suggesting interventions could revolutionise how we address climate-related challenges in agriculture, said the company.
According to Kumar, for now Aksara is programmed to provide responses on focus crops and countries. The model is trained on a database containing information from seed sowing to harvesting, covering every phenological stage of the crop growth cycle and different aspects like crop health management, soil management, disease control, and others.
Meanwhile, according to Pankajakshan, expanding geographies and incorporating various crops into climate data analysis can indeed enhance its utility and accuracy. With multiple modalities of data such as satellite imagery, weather station readings, soil composition data, and even data from IoT (Internet of Things) sensors on farms, we can create a more comprehensive understanding of climate patterns and their impact on agricultural productivity.
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